Sixty-seven

Author's name: Raja Al-Rantisi Publisher: Tabaq for Publishing and Distribution Year of publication: 2023 Literary classification: Novel Brief about the book: "Sixty-seven" by Palestinian novelist Raja Al-Rantisi. And Rantisi takes the cities of Amman, Ramallah, and Gaza as settings for the events of the novel, with the events revolving around two women, one living in Ramallah and the other in Gaza. The novel's events intertwine between the two characters, while the timelines shift between the present and the "Naksa" war, in a chronological sequence that links the events together and draws the reader into the lives of each woman, reflected in the pages of the novel. In her talk about the novel, Rantisi says: "It is a novel that looks through its pages at windows from the time of war, defeat, and breakdown, as well as glimpses from the time of hope, resistance, and challenge. A simple novel that does not tell everything but hints at some of what was. It is what the heroines of the novel wanted to tell us about a time that has not ended yet." The novel ends with hope for the end of a phase, and the reader knows it has not ended yet, carrying within it space for another novel that hints at another time of breakdown, defeat, as well as challenge and heroism. The novel is 138 pages long, in medium size, with the artist Ayman Harb designing the cover illustration. It is considered the second novel for the author, as she previously published "My Deferred Death" through the Arab Foundation for Science in Beirut in 2015.